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HMS Hood
The HMS Hood was the only ship completed in the Admiralty-class. The HMS Hood was the most iconic warship of the Royal Navy, with service extending from 1920 till 1959. An extremely beautiful ship, the HMS Hood was the Crown Jewel of the Royal Navy fleet, becoming one of the most iconic ships, alongside the HMS Warspite, HMS Beagle, and the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Inter-war period In the inter war period, the Hood remained flagship of the Pacific Fleet, patrolling and enforcing the queens will on the British colonies. Periodically refitted, the HMS Hood was seen as one of the most important and illustrious warships of the royal navy. The Hood was represent the queen at nearly every diplomatic meeting, as her great prestige was widely known. WW2 Entering WW2 direly needing a refit, the HMS Hood was scheduled to be serviced in 1942, but due to materials restrictions, the Hood's refitment was cancelled. Reassigned to the Atlantic fleet, the HMS Hood was used mainly to hunt down German cruisers. She, alongside the HMS Beagle, would be credited with sinking the Bülow, Haus, and Voss. The HMS Hood was extremely successful in this role, successfully sinking several German light cruisers and medium cruisers. After the explosion of the HMS Tiger, doubts were cast on the armor of British battlecruisers, as such plans were almost immediately set aside for the HMS Hood to receive a refit. Eventually, with her main turrets very well worn, and in a dire need of a refit, in 1942 plans were set aside to finally refit the aging Hood. Fitted with a brand new superstructure, similar to the ones found on the Renown-class, the HMS Hood was given a new lease on life. She would return to general service in January 1943. Mediterranean Theater During 1943 she would be deployed to the Meditwerranean, a constant battleground in comparison to the Atlantic. She would replace the HMS Warspite while she underwent dire repairs. Her first action, was to shell French targets at Casablanca. While several raids had already taken place, this was designed to soften up the actual shore installations rather then the ships themselves, as allied troops prepared to take Casablanca. Arriving May 7, 1943, the HMS Hood, alongside a small escort of destroyers, opened fire on French shore installations at 6:00. Bombarding for 4 continuous hours, the HMS Hood managed to destroy nearly all of the remaining oil silos, and stuff. This was mildly seen as excessive, as it was wildly accepted that Vichy France troops would join the allies. However, this denied Axis naval forces in the region access to fuel. Shortly after this raid, she would be joined by the HMS Barham, HMS Nelson, and HMS Warspite, and would shell Germans targets along the African coast, in Libya and Algeria. Successfully firing a combined 562 15in shells, and 118 16in shells, the british troops advanced and managed to capture several key cities. After this, she would serve as an escort for transports into Malta, and as a key bastion for attacking Italian and Spanish warships in the area. In 1944, she would take part in the largest battle of the Mediterranean theater, and attack a large division of Italian warships, led by the sole operational Italian carrier Aquila. During this, the HMS Hood would be outmatched by 3 Italian battleships, and while escorted by the HMS Illustrious, a torpedo from a German u-boat had crippled her forward elevator, leaving only the rear elevator and severely limiting her effectiveness. During the engagement, HMS Hood would successfully cripple the Littorio, and sink the Andrea Dorea, and Francesco Caracciolo. Torpedo bombers from the Aquila managed to sink the Illustrious, but the Hood managed to cripple the Aquila to the point where she would sit as a hulk in Taranto until the italians surrendered in late 1944. This battle served as the main point for the Italian surrender, as they could no longer broadcast any meaningful naval presence to deter a naval invasion. Italian Surrender After the Italian surrender in 1947, the Hood would be the flagship of the fleet (compromised of HMS Malta, HMS Beagle, and HMS Warspite) that escorted the remaining Italian fleet to Alexandria. During the transit, German bombers launched several Donitz X guided bombs, sinking the Roma and Aureus, and crippling the Warspite and Hood. A bomb struck the Hood just between her funnels. The explosion decimated the engine rooms, blowing a 20m hole into the very bottom of the hull. Shockingly, losses were minimal, resulting in the loss of only 17 men. With her engine rooms essentially non existent, she was taken under tow back to Malta, where emergency repairs were made. South Atlantic Service Shortly after being repaired, the HMS Hood was dispatched to the South Atlantic, to hunt for the ''Bayern''. The Bayern had been reportedly hit by the submarine HMS Tigershark, but her condition was unknown. While Argentina had declared war on Britain in 1939, the British had essentially ignored it, making occasional trips to the only British holdings near Argentina: The Falkland Islands. While Intelligence indicated that Argentina was planning on launching a surprise Attack on the Falklands, it was generally assumed that it was not a real threat due to the lack of Argentine naval power. Due to Chilean and Brazilean naval power in the region, it was considered highly unlikely Argentina would attempt an invasion. Argentina's naval forces at the beginning of the war consisted of 3 antiquated battleships, one of which was sunk in an Air raid by Chilean forces after war broke out. The remaining 2 battleships, the Moreno and ''Castelli'' were not considered threats to the small defense force of antiquated destroyers in the Falklands. The Moreno was a dreadnought battleship completed before WW1 broke out, and hadn't recieved a refit since 1935. The Castelli was a former Bayern-class battleship Wurtemberg, but she had not seen a refit since 1932. However, in March 17th, 1945, the Hood received emergency transmissions from the Falklands that they were being shelled. The Argentine's combined capital fleet combined with the Bayern, which while struck by the torpedo from the Tigershark, had managed to make it to Argentina to make temporary repairs. Together, they were loaded up with over 1000 Argentine troops, alongside several old medium cruisers and destroyers and departed in a naval invasion of the Falklands. As the Hood was the only allied capital ship in the region (the Brazilian Navy and Chilean Navy were out of reach), the order was given to engage. Finally opening fire at 4:15 March 18, the presence of the Hood seemed to surprise the Axis forces, as she was assumed to be 150nmi east of the Falklands. In a battle lasting 8 hours, the Hood managed to sink the Castelli, and severly cripple the Bayern. The Moreno would fall victim to attacks from a torpedo run from the few british destroyers. The Bayern would return to Argentina, but was too damaged to make it back to Germany, essentially leaving her stranded until U-boats would secretly deliver much needed materials to make temporary repairs. The Bayern would finally make it back to Germany in 1947. However, the Hood had taken a pounding. Several shells had managed to penetrate her belt armor below the waterline, and more importantly, a shell had destroyed her air facilities, and a torpedo had blown off 2 of her propellers and jammed her rudder into a 15* turn to port. Docking at the inadequate Falkland docks, she made temporary repairs, and returned back to Britain by May 21st, 1945. This would be the second time Captain James Oliver would return with Hood severly damaged after a vicious engagement. In 1946, she would be present at D-Day, hunt for Tirpitz In 1949, after Germany surrenders she transfers to the Pacific Fleet. Pacific Service Minor Aleutians Service Is attacked alongside HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales- only ship to return Helps shell Okinawa, and Japanese Coasts Post War With the surrender of Japan in 1950, the HMS Hood was quickly used to help bring home British troops. Carrying upwards of 1000 men, Hood along with the victorious British Pacific fleet returned as heroes to the Britannic Isles. However, in desperate need for funds to rebuild, the HMS Hood was decommissioned in June of 1951, having served an illustrious career of 30+ years. The second highest decorated royal navy ship, efforts were made to preserve her as a museum ship. However, these efforts fell through and she was nevertheless sold for scrapping. Departing from Scalpa Flow in Autumn of 1951, she started being towed to be scrapped at Faslane Scotland. However, while under tow, the Tug Fairwind had her tug straps snapped off the coast of . Her sister tug Sea Eagle was unable to tow Hood by herself, leading to her dropping tow for fear of the Hood dragging her into the cross swells and causing her to capsize. Without any guidance, the swells forced her first into the rocky crags of Prussia Cove. While efforts were made to refloat her, her hull was to badly damaged. Eventually she was pulled off 160 ft off the rocks, where she was scrapped in place. By 1955, she completely disappeared from view. To date, she remains the largest salvage operation to be conducted in British waters. Category:Royal Navy